According to Murray Baumgarten, “the narrator of the expressionist novel no longer cares about the “real” world (422). Instead, the narrator of the expressionist novel is interested in creating a new, almost illusory and composite world, in which the creator, in this case Ford's John Dowell, has the power to see the world, or to tell his story, from his point of view. from his own unique and personal experience. As Dowell is in a position of power in terms of the relationship between the narrator and his audience, the audience is forced to succumb to the expressionist idea that the inner workings of the narrator's mind influence and continue to exist in the functioning of what is considered to be the “real” world of the novel. In other words, Dowell's “silent listener” does not receive a universal account of the sad story presented in the novel (Ford 120). Rather, the audience receives a narrative that is entirely dependent on the narrator's unique perspective and how his or her personality shapes his or her reactions to the events that occur throughout the story. Analyzing Ford's The Good Soldier through the lens of Expressionism, Dowell's narrative is a piece that focuses on the collision of the "real" world, a world taken for granted by its occupants, and illusion , the creation of a world based on the psychology of an individual; Ford's use of this artistic style creates a new expressionistic world that the narrator uses to convey his story and stay as true to his singular perspective as possible. Expressionism exists for the time and place where reality is distorted in order to “express an emotional state” (Dellolio 240). The Good Soldier contains a narrative, a reality heavily influenced by one man's emotion, anguish and inner conflict. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay Expressionist works rely on the idea that “the subjective or emotional can reshape materiality, that the world as we know and perceive it can be distorted by the particularities of point of view and psychology” (Dellolio 240). This major aspect of expressionism (that reality is shaped by emotional perspective and subconscious thought) is seen in The Good Soldier through John Dowell, an unhappy man who is forever destined to be an ignored "caretaker." (Ford 151). Although Dowell is an unreliable narrator due to his misrepresentations and emotional reactions to important events, the story presented in the novel is his own and he is fully authorized to relay it based on his experience. personal. Dowell asserts this authority to distort reality to suit his subjective by firmly indicating to his listener the reasons why he tells the story non-chronologically and in a “disjointed” manner (Ford 119): I can't help it Nothing. I stuck to my idea of ​​being in a country house with a silent listener, listening between the gusts of wind and among the sounds of the distant sea, the story as it unfolds. And when we discuss the matter… we go back, we move forward. We remember points that we have forgotten and we explain them all the more carefully when we recognize that we forgot to mention them in the right places and that we could have given, by omitting them, a false impression. (Ford 120)Dowell does not use his role as narrator to simply tell a story; Dowell tells a specific story, his story, based on his personal perceptions of reality. The narrative itself is the manifestation of Dowell's inner thoughts, both conscious andsubconscious. The narrator does not present the events that occurred in the novel as they happened and in the order in which they occurred. Instead, he presents them as if he were transferring them directly from his mind to his pen and then to paper. Dowell does not distinguish or separate the two areas that make up expressionism: the fundamental reality of the world in which he and his friends live and the world seen through his subjective eyes. Dowell merges these two worlds in a truly expressionistic way and presents his audience with a reality that has been influenced by the human psyche, resulting in a confusing and maze-like story. As Dowell says, “Real stories are probably best told the way a person telling a story would tell it to them.” They will then seem very real” (Ford 120). The narrator of The Good Soldier indirectly tells his audience that the story he has constructed has elements of expressionism due to its reliance on perception. In fact, Dowell even demands that his listener perceive him and his act of narration the way his mind has thought it: the listener must remain silent and patient while he, the narrator, speaks in the midst of a calm but majestic environment. natural forces outside the window of her picturesque cottage. Dowell takes control and distorts reality to suit his emotional and psychological state. The narrative and narrative style expressed to the audience is unique to Dowell's character. What is true of Dowell's experience would not be entirely true of Leonora's, for example. This difference in reality is the consequence of the fact that Dowell presents to the audience a world that is real to him but considerably distorted because he is far too emotionally involved to give an objective interpretation of events. The audience sees him directly placing the state of his emotions in a world taken for granted. Therefore, it distorts reality for the audience. The taken-for-granted world is a concept explained by Dowell as an “atmosphere” that “characterized [his] relationship [with the Ashburnhams]” (Ford 29). According to Dowell, it was taken for granted that both couples were “good people” (Ford 30). It was also accepted that they all preferred their “beef undercooked,” “both men preferred a good brandy after lunch,” and “both women drank a very light Rhine wine” (Ford 30). From Dowell's explanation of the nature of the relationships between the quartets, it can be inferred that Dowell was initially only allowed to enter the "real" world, the superficial world that barely exists due to his apparent lack of human connection and psychological influence. calls this world the “ontological zone,” a zone that emphasizes the narrator’s “unquestioned acceptance of the natural attitude” or the mundane (416). For a long time, Dowell associated ordinary traits (like wine or beef preferences) with being a "good" person. It did not occur to Dowell to question these mundane qualities; he saw no problem in relating small, practically insignificant similarities between himself and others with moral judgments. Expressionism plays an important role in this novel because it forces Dowell to realize that the world taken for granted is not reality. Dowell, Edward, Florence, and Leonora are not just “good people” who like the same things; these are people with dramatic, controversial and deadly lives. This realization leads to frustration, confusion, and anxiety for Dowell. According to Peter J. Dellolio, "the essential expressionist credo is that exaggerations and stylistic manipulations are commensurate withthe extraordinary anxiety and inner conflicts of a protagonist” (241). The anxiety and inner conflict of Ford's narrator can be seen directly through a stylistic analysis of Dowell's narrative. As Dowell guides his listener through an introduction about his relationship with the Ashburnhams and his narrative in general, his inner conflict is evident as he is unable to fully accept the fact that his "court minuet" of friendship is now torn and gone forever (Ford 11). Dowell laments this loss: “Permanence? Stability! I can't believe it's gone. I cannot believe that this long, quiet life, which only played a minuet, disappeared in four days of crushing after nine years and six weeks” (Ford 11). Dowell's anxiety is successfully transposed from his mind to a new reality that the audience is only just beginning to understand. However, a few lines later, Dowell exclaims: “No, indeed, it cannot go away. You can’t kill a court minuet” (Ford 11). Two bold and opposing exclamations appear in the same paragraph of Dowell's account. Dowell's inner self struggles to accept what expressionism forces him to do. It's not just that Dowell is sad about the loss of his casual friendship; to be more specific regarding the history and movement of Expressionism, Dowell experiences immense frustration in trying to accept and understand his “alienation…from what was once unquestionable and familiar” (Dellolio 243). As a “fundamental concern of modern art,” the theme of “the tension between order and chaos” is central to this part of the story (Dellolio 243). Dowell is desperate to restore order. However, now that the truth behind Edward and Leonora's marriage and his wife's infidelities are revealed and all over the place, Dowell's emotions have come into play and changed the world he thought was "real", making it impossible to wish of Dowell of a familiar order. In an attempt to thoroughly analyze the expressionist themes of Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951), Peter J. Dellolio highlights how Guy Haines' inner wishes and thoughts are actualized and manifested in a more concrete way through the character of Bruno Anthony. . Guy wishes to marry his girlfriend, Ann Morton, but is unable to do so because he is already married and unable to obtain a divorce from his wife, Miriam Haines. On the other hand, Bruno would like to live his own life without his father's influence. In order to solve their problems and fulfill their inner desires, the men hatch a plan in which they would each assassinate the other's enemy. The problem (and expressionist theme) arises, however, when Guy finds himself incapable of actually murdering another human being. It is important to note, however, that Guy has a desire to murder his wife because of the restrictions she places on his life. Guy even exclaims out loud to his girlfriend: “I could strangle her!” » (Dellolio 246). Like Ford's John Dowell, however, there is something stopping him from realizing his desires. In The Good Soldier, Dowell has perhaps his most pitiful moment when he resignedly declares, “Well, it's all over. None of us got what we really wanted...what I really wanted was to stop being a nursing assistant. Well, I’m a practical nurse” (Ford 151). Dowell and Guy clearly and vocally declare what their minds desire. Although these two men are incapable of realizing their desires on their own, their subjective thoughts manifest into reality through the character's counterparts, Edward Ashburnham and Bruno Anthony. Dellolio argues that "if the internal premise of Guy's whole being is his desire.